The Friendship Files: Emerald City
by LanieSullivan
Summary: New entry for this series taking place as a filler for "The Wrong Way Home" taking place between the capture of the baddies and the tag at Dooley's. Francine can't help noticing Lee's jealous reaction to Joe King being back in Amanda's life. But wait, Lee doesn't get jealous...does he?


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

 **The Friendship Files: Emerald City**

After two painfully long hours of trying to be the consummate professional, even though his partner was not, Joe King's debriefing was wrapped up and Lee exited the conference room, along with Francine, Joe and Amanda and headed toward Billy's office looking for an escape. He had to have another assignment right now to take his mind off the closeness he'd seen between Amanda and her ex, how every time he fired a question at Joe, Amanda would give him this scolding look as if he were being inappropriate for asking and she would then turn her attention to Joe and speak to him in the most soothing tone to encourage him. She'd insisted that his debriefing take place in the more comfortable setting of the conference room rather than one of the harsh interrogation rooms. She even called him "Sweetheart" a time or two. Lee cringed, looking back at the pair for just a moment and seeing them talking quietly before making a beeline for his boss' office. He stormed in without waiting to be invited and said, "Billy, I gotta' have something to do!" He soon realized though that he was talking to no one. He scratched his head in puzzlement wondering where he was.

"He's been tied up in meetings all day with the bigshots on Capitol Hill," Francine answered his question before he asked it as she strolled in breezily.

"Crap!" Lee grumbled. He had to have something to do to avoid Amanda as long as Joe King was there. He glanced through the window toward the bullpen where he could see Joe and Amanda chatting near Francine's desk. He then saw Amanda laugh heartily at something her ex said. _What the hell is he saying to her,_ he thought bitterly. He frowned as he thought it must be some private joke that only they would understand as he saw the faint blush that crept over Amanda's cheeks.

Francine, seeing the pained look on Lee's face, caught on to what he was thinking. "They sure look cozy, don't they?"

"Yeah," Lee muttered and then a bit louder, he added, " _Too_ damn cozy, if you ask me." He wanted to stop looking at them, but found that he just couldn't tear his eyes away. He _had_ to know what was going on between them.

"Seems a bit weird, doesn't it?" Francine commented. "They seem awfully chummy for a divorced couple. Maybe they'll get back together now that he's back and Amanda will go back to just being a housewife."

"What?" Lee gaped at her in horror at that thought finally turning from the scene before him. "NO!" She couldn't do that. She'd come too far at the agency to throw it all away now. At seeing Francine's wistful look, he tried to justify Amanda's actions to her even if he couldn't quite justify them to himself. "They're...uh...they're just catching up, right?"

"I don't know. Look at how she's smiling," Francine countered as she glanced at the couple.

"So she's smiling. So what? It's not like she's never smiled before. She's just a normally cheery person," Lee answered defensively. He wondered who he was trying to convince, Francine or himself. He just knew he didn't like Amanda spreading her cheer to another man.

"I still think it's weird," Francine stated.

"It's not THAT weird. I mean, we're not a couple anymore but you and I are still friends."

Francine turned back to him and responded, "True, but there's a HUGE difference. You and I weren't married and we didn't have kids together." She paused for a beat, patted him on the shoulder consolingly and then added with a grin, "Besides, we were never that serious about each other to begin with."

"No? It seemed to me that when I broke up with you, you were taking it pretty damn seriously."

"Puh-lease," Francine scoffed. "I was over you three seconds later. You may think you're God's gift to women just like those ladies you date whose brains have the wattage of nightlight, but any woman with a teaspoon of brains knows not to get involved with you and expect a happy ending."

"OH? Then do you care to explain to me why for three months afterward, you wouldn't give me the time of day unless it was about work?"

"Well, no woman likes to be dumped, especially me! I prefer to be the one doing the dumping. If I'd had any sense then, I would've dumped you first!" He jabbed a manicured fingernail into his chest.

"So, what you're saying is you're the one without more than a teaspoon of brains," Lee challenged her.

"Well, if you had any brains, _Scarecrow_ , you'd just march out there and find out what's what instead of giving him the chance to lead her back to Kansas."

"What? I don't care if he does or not," Lee argued, but couldn't help the shiver that crept up his spine at Francine's words.

"Humph," she replied disbelievingly. "You're so green with jealousy right now that you look like you belong in the Emerald City!"

"No, I'm not!' Lee argued petulantly as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!" Lee sighed, raked a hand through his hair and decided to turn the tables on her. "Look, you're the one who belongs in the Emerald City!"

"How do you figure?" Francine responded icily.

"Oh, come on, you've been jealous of Amanda since the day she started here!"

"I have never...NEVER...been jealous of Amanda King!"

"Oh, yes you have," Lee countered.

"No, I haven't!'

"Yes, you have!"

"No, I haven't!" Francine placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, saying in a huffy tone, "Why on earth would I be jealous of her?"

"Because it burns your ass that she gets all the good assignments, that Billy's always asking for her insight on things, but most of all because she's the only one that I want to share my-" Lee broke off abruptly as he realized what he'd almost blurted out.

"Please, do go on," Francine said with a grin that she'd gotten to him. "She's the only woman that you want to share what with?"

"My-my-my...my office," Lee stammered. "You know I can't stand to work with a partner, but Amanda makes it easy."

"Oh, sure your _office_ ," Francine replied acidly making air quotes with her fingers. "Why can't you just admit that you'd like to share a hell of a lot more than an office with her?"

"Because I don't," Lee denied. "Even if I did, that would just make you even more jealous of her now, wouldn't it?"

"Did you not just hear me say that I'm long over you! Besides, it's not like there was that much to get over anyway." She grinned salaciously at him.

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," Lee fired back.

"Stop it! We're not talking about me! We're talking about you here! It's been obvious for a long time that you've got some sick thing for Amanda!"

"What? No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do and don't even try to deny it! I've known you for too long for you to lie to me and be convincing about it!

As Francine's words fully sank in, Lee fired back at her, "So what? What if I do? What's the big deal? Just supposing that I do and I'm not saying I do, but just supposing, why is it sick?"

"You want an itemized list?" Without giving him a chance to respond, she started counting off on her fingers, "She's a housewife; she has kids, so she comes with baggage..."

"Her boys are NOT baggage," Lee cut in, but it didn't deter Francine.

"...And you're...well, you...you don't do well with strings attached, you are the king of commitment-phobia; you know very well that you shouldn't get involved romantically with someone you work with..."

"You're living proof of that, aren't you?" Lee interrupted again sarcastically.

"When was there ever any romance in _our_ relationship," Francine questioned hotly.

"When was there-" He broke off and gaped at her incredulously.

"You know what, that's not the point anyway! The point is that that guy out there is moving in on your territory and you're just letting him, not that you're man enough to admit that it _is_ your territory."

"He's not moving in! Amanda wouldn't let him," Lee argued.

"No? Take another look!" She pointed through the window.

Lee looked back to the bullpen just in time to see Amanda kiss her ex just before he departed. "What the hell?"

"Now, are you going to listen to me or not?"

"Fine, fine, fine," Lee snapped as he leaned against Billy's desk and crossed his arms again. "Go on, impart some of your special Francine Desmond wisdom."

"Well, what I think is that you need to decide if you're ready to say good-bye to Emerald City and join Amanda and her Munchkins in Munchkin Land. If you're not, then he just may take her back home to Kansas and away from Oz altogether." She watched gleefully as his facial expression changed from one of irritation to one of realization. She began to walk away, saying, "Mission accomplished."

At her last words, Lee realized not only was Francine right, but that she'd purposely goaded him into a fight to make her point. "Francine," he said softly.

"Yeah?" she turned for a moment to face him again.

"Thanks," Lee answered sincerely.

"For what?" she replied obtusely with a questioning eyebrow and exited the room.

The following night as he slowly sipped his beer at Dooley's, Lee reflected back on Francine's advice. He watched for a moment while Amanda danced with the father of her children feeling a painful stab of jealousy cutting through him like a knife at seeing how comfortable she seemed in Joe King's arms. When she pulled back from her ex and her eyes caught his, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Good-bye, Emerald City," He said softly as he took another sip of his beer and silently nodded to her.


End file.
